A Hard Time For Tony
by bookwormgirl382
Summary: A unexpected visitor show up at NCIS to see Tony.  Worning: discussion of child abuse.  Sequel To But For The Grace of God.  Please Read and Review.
1. Chapter 1

Ch. 1

Disclaimer: I don't own NCIS. I just play with their character. I am making no money here, so please don't sue me.

Tony DiNozzo arrives for work at NCIS a few minutes early. He is in a good mood today. He started seeing a therapist six months ago and it has helped him a lot. He'd found one that could work with his odd schedule and understood that sometimes appointments couldn't be kept because of a case. The therapist Tony is seeing works with a lot of law enforcement officers. He's been a lot happier since. Unknown to Tony, this day would try his new found sense of security like no one's business.

"Good morning, everyone," he says in an upbeat voice.

His fellow teammates answer him somewhat cheerfully. Jethro even seems in a better mood than usual for some strange reason.

Tony sat down at his desk and immediately turned on his computer and set down his backpack. He'd slept like a log the night before, so he is ready to start the day.

Later, Tony heads down to Abby's lab to speak to his favorite lab rat. Since they aren't on an active case, he tends to spend a little time down there every day whenever possible. Jethro has taken to allowing it as long as he isn't being ridiculous about it.

Jethro heads up to the director's office for some reason and Ziva has taken the day off. She has some sort of stomach flu. McGee is the only member of Gibbs' team that remains in the bullpen. The phone rings on his desk.

"Hello. Special Agent McGee speaking," Tim says after having seen that the extension is the front entrance to the building.  
"This is Andrew Moris, security guard on duty for the lobby. I have a visitor for Special Agent DiNozzo down here and he needs an escort," the man on the other end of the line said.

"Who is it?" McGee asks.

"It's his father," he said.

Tim looks surprised. He has never met the man and know that Sr. hasn't come to visit his son in a long time. Not for as long as McGee has not Tony anyway. Tim doesn't know the truth about Tony's childhood.

"I'll come down to escort him up," Tim says.

Anthony Dominic DiNozzo Senior is a large man with salt and pepper hair and very tall. He seems to tower over most people.

"Mr. DiNozzo, I'm Special Agent Timothy McGee. I work with your son. I'll escort you upstairs. He isn't in the squad room at the moment but should be soon," Tim tells the older man.

Sr. nods his head in confirmation and follow Tim upstairs.

_What will Tony's reaction be? More to the point, What will Gibbs say?_


	2. Chapter 2

Tony arrives back in the bullpen after spending about twenty minutes downstairs with Abby. He has no clue what awaits him. If that were the case, he probably would have stayed downstairs and contacted Jethro.

Suddenly, he sees that his father has come to NCIS. He could hardly believe it. He notices that Tim is the only one with him at the moment. While Tony is extremely upset with the thought of his father being anywhere near him, but he knows that he cannot be too upset because Tim has not clue what his childhood was like.

"Tim, could I talk to you for a moment?" Tony says to the younger man ignoring his father for the moment. He wants to wait until Jethro gets downstairs again before he talks to the man. He isn'ta sure he's ready to face him quite yet.

Tim follows Tony to the area near the stairs. 'What is going on?' he wonders to himself. He didn't know the past history Tony had with his father or he would have certainly not allowed Senior anywhere near Tony.

"Tim, I need you to get Gibbs. I promise to explain later," Tony says knowing that right now he needs his boss more than anything.

"Of course, Tony," Tim says heading upstairs, hoping that Jethro would be done with the director and just coming out instead of him having to interrupt them. Tim could sense that Tony was a little fearful of his father. He didn't know what that was about, but if Jethro being there would help, Tim had every intention of getting him.

Tony goes over to the team's section of the bullpen where his father is standing. He takes a deep breath before coming into view of his father. The older man has aged so much since Tony had seen him last nearly twenty years before. Tony hasn't seen nor heard from him since he started college. It is surprising to have him here now.

"Junior, that was rude. You didn't even acknowledge me before you took off," Senior said to his son. The years hadn't changed his demeanor much. He still intensely dislikes his son. Ever since his wife, Anna's death, he hasn't been able to stand the sight of him for very long, but with Tony's Uncle Mike dieing and leaving him a small inheritance, Senior has been forced to come down here in spite of his feelings.

Tony struggles to come up with a response to that, still afraid that his father would slap him if he answered incorrectly. Even though, if he did Tony could have him charged with assault. Tony remembers what his therapist had told him in case his father ever came to see him even after all these years. "Tony, you need to be careful of your own response. He has hurt you enough in your life, you cannot allow him to do it to you again. If he hits you, you have every right to have him charged with assault," Dr. Melissa Garret had told him. They had gone on to discuss other possible situations. Unknown to the both of them, Tony would need this advice sooner rather than later.

Anthony DiNozzo Senior stands glaring at his son waiting for him to respond. It is very apparent that the younger man had lost his manners since the last time he had seen him. 'That's what you get for him becoming a cop.'

"Hello, sir," Tony says hoping that things wouldn't end up in a confrontation. He didn't want to have an argument in the middle of the bull pen. That would be embarrassing as hell.

"Could we speak somewhere in private, Junior. I have something to discuss with you," Senior told his son.

"No, that won't be possible. I am working Dad. Besides, whatever you have to say to me you can say here," Tony said not willing to be alone with the older man. At least, if he tried anything, Tony would have witnesses this way.

This made the older DiNozzo angry. He put his hand back to slap Tony and...


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I don't own NCIS.

Author's Note: Happy Holidays everyone. I went shopping today and got a couple of presents, a thermal shirt for one of my brothers and a hoodie for the cousin whose name I drew. This year will be a little weird as one of my brothers won't be here on Christmas day. He is going to his fiancee's parents' house.

Tim comes up from behind Senior and grabs his hand to prevent the slap. He may not know the history of abuse, but he can see something is very wrong here. It makes him angry to see his partner's father treating him like that.

Tony, who hadn't had time to react, is shocked to find that not only had his father not slapped him, but Tim had saved him from it. Tim hadn't known about Tony's past, so he might not have realized what was happening until it was to late to stop him, but Tim reacted on instinct.

Jethro comes down the stairs from MTAC just in time to see this happen. He had been a little slower than Tim. He'd been surprised to hear that Senior would dare show up here after everything that had happened.  
Tim has the older man against Jethro's desk to make certain he doesn't try to do it again. He doesn't want Tony hurting.

Jethro stands directly in front of Senior trying to intimidate him with his Gibbs glare. As angry as he is, Jethro knows that hitting Senior wouldn't help Tony at all. It would just make the situation worse.

Tony watches his coworkers carefully. He still wonders why his father would come here to see him. It had been many years since he had actually seen his father. They didn't email or talk on the phone either.

"Mr. DiNozzo, I would recommend that you state your business here so that you can leave. Otherwise there might be problems. You came awfully close to assaulting a federal officer," Jethro tells the man who he had grown to dislike very much in the last six months. After Tony had told him what had happened during his childhood, Jethro had researched the man. He hadn't found any real dirt on him like he would have liked, but there really isn't much he can do about the abuse in the past. There is no real proof of it that could be used to get a conviction.

"I came to inform Junior of a small inheritance that he is to receive from his uncle Mike. He left him ten thousand dollars which is part of the sale of Mike's Butcher shop," Senior explained. "I am the executor of the will and while I don't think he deserves the money, I have no choice but to make certain Junior gets it."

Tony looks shocked at the news. He hadn't exactly been his uncle's favorite growing up, although they had gotten on alright. The fact that his father hadn't tried to contest the will is also surprising. He knows his uncle had been having heart trouble, so the death isn't entirely surprising. It is sad, but Tony hadn't seen his uncle in six years. His aunt, Amelia, had been keeping him informed of what's been happening on that side of the family. "When is the funeral?" Tony asks wanting to go.

"It took place four days ago. I didn't think that you would want to go," Senior told his son, even though he had considered calling his son about it, thinking that maybe Tony would at least feel some sort of family obligation to do so.

"I would have gone had I known. I may not see family much, but I liked Uncle Mike. He was always nice to me," Tony tells his father. He may not have been a favorite of his uncle, but Mike had treated him well when they had seen each other. Tony just hadn't had much time to be close to his family. The only family member Tony has really seen in the last several years is his cousin Martha, who lives in Virginia. She is the daughter of his Aunt Clara.

"You didn't deserve it," Senior tells him determined to put his son down no matter what. He hated having to come here, but had had not choice in the matter. Now with his son's friends surrounding him like this, Senior didn't dare try anything physical. Verbal was an entirely different story though.

"I deserved a lot better than what you did to me. You beat me when I was home and when I was away, you rarely came to see me. You kept me away from home for as much of the year as much as possible. I would have hated boarding school if you had treated me correctly, but you didn't. After Mom died, it was like you hated me," Tony tells his father. This is the first time that Tony had the confidence to stand up to his father thanks to Doctor Millicent Matthews, his therapist. She had been very helpful in the last six month. He still had a lot of problems to work out, but he'd gained some confidence.

"If I hadn't had my reputation to worry about, you would have been given up for adoption after your mother's death," Senior tells his son. This is the first time Senior had told his son such a thing. He is trying to find some way to unnerve his son. It hadn't been difficult in the past, but today it seems to be much harder than usual, which surprises him a lot.

Jethro is watching this exchange between father and son and is very proud of Tony for handling this the way he has. Tony would probably not have stood up to his father in the past.

Tony just stares at his father not having been told such a thing before. After everything that has happened in the past, somehow he's not surprised to hear this piece of information. He knows his father has had an intense dislike for him for many years. This just confirms everything.

"Mr. DiNozzo I would suggest you take care of the necessary paperwork or whatever and remove yourself from the building. Tony, I'll get someone from legal up here just to be sure," Jethro says. He wants to make sure that Tony's father didn't try to cheat him out of that money. It wouldn't surprise him at all if he tried it.

Tony nods and he and his father head upstairs to the conference room. Tim follows behind them to protect Tony. He senses that there is something going on besides the situation that he had just witnessed. Tim decides he'll ask Tony what that is later.

Agent Laura Hennings comes upstairs a few minutes later. She has been called in situations like this before, to give a little legal help to other agents. The director doesn't mind as long as it isn't a long term thing that would cost the agency a lot of money.

It actually turns out that Senior hadn't tried to cheat Tony. He hadn't wanted any legal trouble if that he had tried. After about thirty minutes, Senior is escorted from the building. He isn't happy with what happened. Tony hadn't treated him with respect, It makes him angry.

TBC


	4. Chapter 4

Ch. 4

Disclaimer: I don't own NCIS. Please don't sue me.

Later that day, Tony is packing his things up to go home. He isn't looking forward to having to

spend the evening alone after the morning he's had. He knows that his father wouldn't hesitate to cause even more problems if at all possible.

Jethro, who has been watching Tony very closely all day since the incident with his Dad, is really concerned that Tony may have nightmares again. He can remember what had happened after the Patterson case and that was just something that reminded him of his past not more abuse.

Tim walks over to Tony's desk planning to ask him to go for pizza. He wants to spend some time with him after what's happened, but Jethro makes a move first. "Tony, I want you to come to my house for the night. I just think you need to be around someone tonight," Jethro tells him concerned.

Tony simply nods his head relieved not to have to go home tonight. He just feels the need to be with someone right now even if it is his boss. He can see that Tim wants to talk to him too, but feels this is the best thing for right now.

"I'll see you guys tomorrow," Tim says somewhat reluctantly as he walks towards the elevator.

Jethro looks over at DiNozzo meaningfully. Tony nods knowing that his boss is seeking his permission to invite Tim to join them. Ordinarily, Jethro wouldn't hesitate to ask Tim, but today was an unusual circumstance.

"Tim, why don't you join us?" Jethro says just before Tim reaches the elevator.

Tim turns around surprised. He hadn't expected this. "Sure, boss." He wants to talk to Tony about what happened today and maybe it would be best this way in case he went too far. Jethro could be their buffer strangely enough.

Jethro, Tim and Tony head out to their cars. Tony is relieved that this day is over, at least work wise. He's happy not to be going home, because he wouldn't put it past his father to try something after what happened that morning.

All three of them decide to order a pizza that would be delivered soon after they get back to Jethro's home. Ordinarily, Jethro would have fixed steaks, but with the serious mood, he figures that it would be easier to talk if he didn't have to cook. He knew the younger men wouldn't care about it.

They gather in his living room to wait for the pizza. Tim decides to bring up the subject of Tony's problems after dinner. He feels that he needs to talk to him.

Two large pizzas, one pepperoni, sausage and extra cheese for Tony and one with everything for Jethro. Tim isn't very picky about what's on his pizza. He intends to eat from both.

Tim and Tony get settled in the living room. Tony is nervous about talking to Tim knowing he will want to know why his father would treat him in such a manner. He knows that Tim doesn't know about his childhood, but it doesn't take a genius to figure out that something like that had happened to him when he was younger.

Jethro sits in his recliner watching the two younger men interact. He's very proud of Tim for protecting his partner the way he had. Jethro had come downstairs too late to do anything about it, but Tim had come to the rescue just in time. Those were reflexes that Jethro didn't realize that Tim possessed, but good to know for the future.

Finally, the pizzas arrived and the three men ate in silence.

After the plates were put in the dishwasher, Tim felt the time was right to talk about what had been going on. This is the reason he had wanted to join Tony at Jethro's place, but Tony beats him to the punch.

"I guess you're wondering why my Dad acted the way he did today," Tony said as a starter to what he imagine would be a difficult conversation to say the least.

Tim nods his head at this. He hadn't expected Tony to be the one to bring it up. He'd thought that he might almost have to drag it out of him. Tony has been very secretive about his childhood even though Tim gets the feeling that he may have told Jethro at least.

"My Mom died when I was eight. Before that, life was pretty good in my house. Sure, I was in the care of nannies most of the time, but Mom also spent a lot of time with me. Dad was always somewhat distant, but he didn't mistreat me until Mom was gone," Tony says not knowing what Tim's reaction would be. "When Mom was gone, he started hitting me. At first, he pretended it was for discipline. He used a belt even then. Then he would just do it when he felt like it. When I was sent away to boarding school, it was actually a relief. He couldn't hurt me when I was there. I usually either stayed at school for most breaks or went home with some of my friends. I was in summer camps most of the summer. I spent most of the year away from home thankfully. When I was home, he was horrible."

Tim stares at Tony for a moment. He had expected something kind of like that, but to hear that it was a frequent thing' is surprising. Tim knows Tony was lucky to have gotten away when he did. Who knows what his life would be like if his father hadn't sent him to boarding school

"Tony, I had no idea that your father treated you like that. No one should be treated like that," Tim tells his partner. A lot of things make sense now. All the comments his father makes perfect sense now. Tim had thought he had been exaggerating in his typical way.

Tony appreciates the way Tim had reacted. The whole team had been a lot nicer than he would have expected. He had though that they would think him damaged goods or something. While Tony hadn't told Abby or Jimmy yet, but he isn't sure he'll ever tell them. Abby would be way too emotional and probably squeeze him half to death if he ever did and who knows with Jimmy.

"I made it out of there in one piece. That's all that really matters. That Patterson case a couple of months ago really had me messed up for a while. It just reminded me what could have happened to me. My life could have turned out a lot differently," Tony says.

"Is that when you were having problems with sleeping?" Tim says figuring he'd probably been having nightmares at the time.

"Yeah. It was a rough time. I was having very repetitive nightmares every time I fell asleep for a while. I have been doing a lot better lately though. I have been seeing a therapist. She's been a huge help. Ducky had told me that I needed to see a therapist and then Gibbs reiterated that after I told them about what had happened to me," Tony tells his teammate.

Hearing Tony's story made Tim realize how lucky he had been growing up. His Dad may have been strict, as a Naval officer, but he'd been fair and had never been abusive. Tim had had a great childhood for the most part.

Jethro has been watching his agents interact and is impressed with the way Tim has handled the situation. He knows that Tim won't tease Tony about this stuff thankfully. Jethro would be estremely disappointed in him if he did.

Tony heads upstairs to the guest room a couple hours later and Tim sets himself up on the couch at around midnight. Jethro goes downstairs to work on the boat. Jethro is just relieved that this day is over. Hopefully, Tony will be able to sleep without nightmares. He doubts it, but time will tell.


	5. Chapter 5

Ch. 5

Disclaimer: I don't own NCIS.

Author's Note: I probably won't update again until next week. I am going to Chicago for my family's annual Girl's Weekend and won't be back until Sunday night. It should be fun. Please Read and review.

Several nights later, Tony is home alone. He is watching Twister on dvd. He has been having nightmares again, but they haven't been anywhere near as bad as they have been in the past. Tony knows he can contribute that to the help that his therapist has been giving him. Tony hasn't been avoiding sleep as much as he was the last time this stuff happened. He certainly no longer stays up half the night worrying about the nightmares that were his constant companion before. Now he might have one or two a night. That makes it a lot easier for him to be able to get some sleep.

Outside Tony's apartment, two men in black is waiting for him to fall asleep. Tony's apartment being on the ground floor with help him in his job. Finally, he sees the lights go out and the young man head back to his bedroom. Alec Martinez and David Luis know to give their target time to go to sleep or there could be problems.

Tony has fallen asleep in his bed not having a clue that he is in danger. His apartment building has never been very secure. Tony has seen no real need to worry about it before. There hasn't been any real break in in years.

Alec carefully picks the lock to Tony's front door. He doesn't want to wake him up. After all, Tony is an armed federal agent and could be dangerous when the situation required it. The two men slipped into the apartment unnoticed and went down the hall to Tony bedroom. They had orders and intended to carry through.

They reach Tony's bedroom. David reaches over and takes a firm hold on Tony waking him up. When Tony realizes that there are strangers in his bedroom he is scared. His heart is racing as he tries to fight David off but the other man is quite strong. 'Please don't let this be it," Tony prays afraid that these men were here to kill him.

Alec starts beating him with his fists. They had been instructed not to use anything but their hands. Alec had been reluctant about that to say the least, but had agreed to it eventually. He knows that the client is the boss. The blows continue to rain down on Tony as he struggles. He's taken several blows to the abdomen and head, but Alec has hit him pretty much anywhere and every where. Finally, after about ten minutes of constant beating, Tony loses consciousness and after getting a few more blows in, the men leave. They had been ordered to be him up not kill him. Alec is a professional at this sort of thing and knows when too much is too much and had stopped well before that point.

**Who hired these men? Will Tony be OK.**


	6. Chapter 6

Ch. 6

Disclaimer: Same as previous chapter.

Author's Note: I won't be able to update until sometime next week. I will be gone all weekend on a my family's annual Girl's weekend in Chicago. It should be fun.

Jethro's gut has been bothering him all evening. He has a feeling something isn't right with one of he team members. He gets these from time to time, and they have unfortunately always been right. He has already talked to everyone but Tony. He decides he needs to head over to Tony's apartment to check on him just in case.

It takes him about ten minutes to get there at this time of night. 'I really hope I'm wrong,' Jethro thinks as he tries to concentrate on driving. Thankfully, there aren't very many cars on the road at eleven o'clock at night. Jethro's driving is dangerous at the best of times. Tonight it is practically reckless.

When Jethro arrives at the apartment, he notices that there are no lights on in Tony's apartment. This actually makes him more worried. He gets out of the car and walks quickly up to Tony's door. As he knocks, the door comes open on its own. Jethro finds that very disturbing, because Tony keeps his door locked all the time, even when he's home. Jethro starts clearing rooms to make sure there's no intruders in them and looking for Tony in the process. He is very concerned that at the very least his Senior Field Agent had been robbed or worse.

Jethro finally finds Tony laying on his bed unconscious in the middle of his bed. At first, he thinks that Tony may have just drank to much, but then he sees the beginning of bruises on the younger man's face. Unknown to him at this point, Tony has these all over his body. Jethro notices that his breathing is kind of shallow. He immediately grabs his cell phone to call for help.

"NCIS dispatch, how may I assist you?" Ellen Bryant answers on the other end. Jethro had called NCIS because he knew that could get help for Tony to his place faster and also get Ziva and Tim there quickly.  
"This is Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs and I'm calling to request an ambulance be sent to Agent Anthony DiNozzo's home at 3538 Jackson Avenue, Apartment four. It looks like he has been attacked by some unknown assailant or assailants. He's having difficulty breathing. I also need the rest of my team called to come process the scene," Jethro says curtly. He doesn't have time for the social niceties that he normally ignores on a daily basis anyway and after getting confirmation from Ellen, hangs up the phone. He doesn't want to waste time with such things. Jethro is carefully monitoring Tony making sure the younger man continues to breath and that his pulse while a bit weak is still going. "You're going to be okay, Tony," Jethro murmurs to the unconscious man. He isn't sure if he can hear him, but it's worth a try.

The paramedics, Spencer Jackson, Alex Martin, and Brittany Peterson arrive about ten minutes after receiving the call. Tim and Ziva aren't far behind them. Ziva and Tim start trying to process the scene after the paramedics move a still unconscious Tony onto the gurney.

Jethro gives hurried instructions to his team and then runs out after the paramedics. They reluctantly allow him in the ambulance seeing how important the young man is important to him. Brittany starts to thoroughly check Tony over. The breathing problems are concerning her quite a bit. She can tell that he probably has at least one broken rib and she's concerned that he might have a punctured lung Brittany could hear crackles coming from Tony's lungs. His breathing is rapid. It certainly sounds like a punctured lung. She had Spencer, the driver radio ahead to have a pulmonologist paged. Brittany is prepared to place a chest tube if necessary. She would prefer to have a doctor do it whenever possible, but sometimes they can't.

Finally, after about ten minutes, they arrive at Bethesda Naval Hospital. Lucky for Tony, Doctor Brad Pitt is actually working tonight. Brad rushes downstairs to meet Tony in the Ambulance Bay. Also, Doctor Felicity Morris, who will be checking Tony for internal bleeding and other problems, also rushes out to meet him.

"Agent Gibbs, why am I not surprised to see you here," Brad jokes slightly. He should have known that Jethro would arrive with Tony. Jethro has always been very protective of his agents, especially Tony.

Jethro just grimly lookss at Brad knowing it is a rhetorical question. He's worried about Tony more than anyone could know. He knows that poor Tony's lungs can't really handle more damage due to the extensive scarring he has from his bout with the plague.

Brad soon realizes that Tony does indeed have a punctured lung. He prepares to place a chest tube, to relieve the pressure on Tony's lungs and keep him alive.

Jethro's phone rings and he goes outside to use it knowing that Tony is in good hands. It's the Director's home phone.

"Gibbs," he says in his usual brusque manner.

"I have just been informed about Agent DiNozzo being attacked in his home. Any idea who did this and is he okeay?

"He's alive, but having a lot of difficulty breathing. They think it's a punctured lung. They are also concerned about internal bleeding. He literally has bruises all over his body. In answer to your other question, we don't know yet. Tim and Ziva are processing the scene now," Gibbs says.

"I hope that Tony can pull through. I can send another team out to assist them if you'd like," Director Leon Vance says. He may not particularly like DiNozzo but he certainly wouldn't wish him any harm either. The person or persons responsible for this attack would pay.

Jethro signs off soon thereafter and then proceeds to call and check on Tim and Ziva. He would need to call Abby in when they were on their way into NCIS with the evidence. She wouldn't be happy that he wouldn't let her come see Tony yet, but he would need her in the lab running evidence so they could catch the criminals who did this.

"We found some hairs that may have belonged to the attackers. There doesn't seem to be any fingerprints though. We also found a shoe print," Tim told his boss. "How's Tony doing?" Tim says as he's working on photographing the crime scene. Ziva is currently bagging and tagging.

Jethro answers the question truthfully. He knows his team will do whatever it takes to catch the people who did this to Tony.


	7. Chapter 7

Tony's doctors are preparing him for surgery. He is having some internal bleeding. They think it's a lacerated spleen. Tony's chest tube had been successfully placed, so that's one less concern for the doctors. They don't think that they will have to remove the the spleen, but they won't know for certain until they get in there.

Jethro stands outside the cubicle Tony had been in inside the emergency room as the prep him for surgery. Jethro knows that he needs to give Tony his privacy even while he is unconscious. The doctors are definitely concerned that Tony might be slipping into a coma after so much time has elapsed since his attack. It is difficult for Jethro to see Tony like this. Even though he doesn't know what will happen to him, Jethro knows that he will be by his side as much as possible.

The orderlies bring Tony out of the cubicle to take him to the OR. They come past Jethro. They head upstairs. Jethro goes to the waiting room near the OR to wait. Soon, the team comes to visit. Until hairs have finished processing and the DNA comes in, there isn't much they can do at the moment.

"Any news, Boss?" Tim asks as he reaches where Jethro is sitting. Ziva isn't far behind. She seems to be a bit out of sorts. She's quite worried about her partner. They have become friends over the last several years. They've had some rough times over the years, but things were going well with them now.

Abby came by later. The DNA would take until the following morning just to finish processing let alone running through the various databases looking for a match. Hopefully, there would be one eventually. She had time to visit and check on Tony.

Finally, Drs. Morris and Pitt came out to speak to them. Jethro is listed as Tony's next of kin and his medical proxy in the case of Tony not being able to make decisions himself. They walk over to where Jethro and his team are sitting.

"Agent DiNozzo came through the surgery alright. He is still unconscious. We did not have to remove his spleen thankfully. His kidneys were bruised as was his liver. We have done some x-rays and he doesn't have any brain bleeds or skull fractures thankfully. He did have two broken ribs and two of his other ribs were fractured. We are extremely hopeful that Tony will make a full recovery," Dr. Morris tells them. "We'll know more once Tony wakes up."

The entire team seems to breath a simultaneous sigh of relief. They had been really worried that something would happen to Tony during surgery due to his previous medical history among other things.

Everyone but Jethro heads home. He will stay the night keeping a careful watch on his senior agent. There will be guards outside of Tony's room just in case the perpetrators come back to finish the job. Jethro is taking absolutely no chances with this. Tony could have easily been killed tonight. Heck, if Jethro hadn't gone to check on him when he had, Tony would probably be dead now with a collapsed lung.

"Tony, you need to wake up. You're lucky not to have been more seriously hurt by this and should be awake by now. You have everyone worried about you," Jethro tells him. He hates to see Tony like this. He's been injured in the line of duty before, but never deliberately attacked for some unknown reason.

Tony could faintly hear Jethro's voice but finds it difficult to obey. He feels like his entire body is made of lead, especially his eyelids. Finally, he manages to open his eyes. "Boss," he says quietly, his throat a bit scatchy.

"I'm here , Tony. You're at Bethesda Naval Hospital. Do you remember what happened? Jethro asks not wanting to prompt the younger man.

"I remember being attacked in my bedroom, but I don't remember much about my attackers. It was too dark for me to get any real details," Tony tells his boss. He is disappointed that he can't think of anything that will help with the investigation at the moment any way.

"I understand that, Tony. Don't worry about it right now," Gibbs says trying to keep him calm. He doesn't want Tony to get overly upset at the moment. He needs to rest and recover. Tony's been hurt enough by this situation. He doesn't need to be beating himself up over it. Not that Jethro is blaming Tony either.

Tony nods his head slightly. He knows what his boss is doing, but it does help a little. "What did the Doctor say about my injuries?" he asks his boss.

"You had a lacerated spleen which they didn't have to remove. It caused some internal bleeding but they were able to repair the problem. You had a punctured lung but they got a chest tube in before your lungs collapsed. Also, you have a moderate concussion. You also have two broken ribs and two fractured ones. You are very lucky to be alive right now with the internal bleeding and punctured lung," Jethro tells him. He wants to be as honest with the younger man as possible. Tony deserves that much.

"Who found me?" Tony asks his boss. He knows that he had been unable to do it himself. He'd been completely incapacitated by the severe beating.

"I did. I had come to check on you because I got a bad feeling that something had happened to someone on the team and you were the only one who didn't answer their phone. I decided that it was better to be safe than sorry. The intruders had left your door unlocked so I was able to get in without any problem," Jethro informs him.

Somehow, Tony isn't surprised by this fact. Jethro's gut feelings were famous. They were most often right. In this case, Tony knows that it had probably saved his life.

"The doctors said that you should be okay after a bit. You'll need some time to recover though. It'll be some time before you are able to return to work and you may have to spend some time on desk duty, but even that shouldn't be too bad. The doctors are pretty much certain that you will make a full recovery," Jethro informs him.

Tony had pretty much expected that. He knows that he's been hurt somewhat seriously without being permanently injured.

"I'll be fine Boss," Tony tells him. "I'm sorry about this is boss."

"You have nothing to apologize for Tony," Jethro says. He isn't in the mood to scold Tony for breaking one of his rules. Tony doesn't need that at the moment.

Tony nods even though he still feels guilty.


	8. Chapter 8

Ch. 7

Disclaimer: I don't own NCIS.

Author's Note: More exciting news in my family. My younger cousin is now engaged. Her boyfriend proposed last night!

Abby waits for a DNA match to come in. She'd gotten an update from Jethro as to Tony's status about twenty minutes before. Tony is still in ICU, but doing as well as can be expected under the circumstances.

She had had a hard time sleeping the night before after having gone home to bed. Abby tends to worry a lot about her coworkers especially when they have been seriously injured like this. Abby is relieved to know that he's okay though.

Finally, her computer beeps. Two of the hairs that had been collected at the scene were matches for Alec Martinez. Also, David Luis came up as a match to one of the others. There had been follicles on the end of the hairs fortunately. That had enabled Abby to find the DNA matches. Abby picks up her phone to call Jethro. She knows he will be happy to hear who had attacked Tony even if they didn't know all of the details.

Jethro is outside of the hospital to get some coffee, when his cell phone rang. It's Abby. "Yeah, Abbs," he says in answer.

"I got matches on both sets of hair. Alec Martinez and David Luis. I'm getting more information as we speak," Abby says exuberantly.

"I'll be in as soon as possible, Abbs. Tell Tim and Ziva," Jethro tells her. He's happy to hear it. He goes up to Tony's room to inform him about what was going on and that he'd be back. Tony seems relieved that they had found out who had actually done the deed but he had no idea who these two men were let alone why they would want to hurt him.

"Hey Boss. What's going on?" Tony greets him as he enters the room. He can see the look on Jethro's face and figures something is up.

"We found out who attacked you. Not sure if someone else hired them or not. Their names are Alec Martinez and David Luis. Are either of those names familiar?" Jethro asks the younger man.

"No. I don't recall them. It doesn't mean that they don't have anything to do with my past," Tony tells him.

Jethro nods his head understanding what Tony is trying to say. He has his suspicions as to what has probably actually happened, but doesn't want to say anything to Tony until he knows for sure. Interrogating these suspects should be interesting.

"We'll have to wait and see what we can get out of these men then. I know that you are worried about what happened Tony, but I have guards outside of your room to protect you if necessary," Jethro tells him.

"Thanks Boss. I hope these guys were acting on their own," Tony says. He's afraid that it might have been his father behind these two buffoons. He knows that as angry as his father was during their last encounter, it wouldn't completely surprise him. Senior had the money and the wherewithal to do it as well.

"I hope so to, DiNozzo. If not, it may be very difficult to get the information out of them," Jethro says. There were two types of people who did this sort of thing, those who would squeal like pigs when they are caught and those who wouldn't say anything no matter what.

Jethro leaves soon thereafter. He heads to headquarters planning to go with Ziva and Tim to pick up their suspects.

Ziva finally finds the financial information she's been looking for all morning. There is a bank account in David Luis' name. There is seventy eight thousand dollars in the account. That would indicate that they had been paid to do it. Just as she is about to pick up the phone, Jethro walks into the bullpen.  
"Sitrep," Jethro barks loudly. He knows Ziva and Tim have been working hard on this particular case with Tony being involved and everything. Tony needs them to find out what the heck had happened so there isn't any repeat. Next time, Tony might not be so lucky. He could have died.

"I found out that there was a recent deposit in an account registered to David Luis. It must be from whoever hired these goons because there is no apparent record of a legitimate reason for such a large amount to be in the account. I am working on tracing who the money come from right now," Ziva tells her boss.

"I want you to stay here and work on that while Tim and I go and get these guys. It's important in case we can't get the information out of them," Jethro tells her.

She nods understanding the reason behind the order. The two men would be fine on there own. They had done this sort of thing before and would probably do it again.

Tim grabs his gear. He is glad that for once all the technical stuff hasn't been left to him while the others went out in the field. He sometimes resented occasionally having to stay behind when everyone else left.

The two men head out to the parking lot and take one of the NCIS sedans. Without a body to retrieve, they probably wouldn't need the truck.

The twenty minute drive is spent in silence. Everything that has happened in the last day and a half has made the two men introspective. Jethro can't help but think about the two men who had deliberately hurt Tony for money. He's determined to find whoever had hired them through any means necessary.

Tim and Jethro arrive at Alec Martinez's apartment. It is a somewhat rundown building. He lives on the third floor and it is unfortunately a walk up. That's never fun and makes it a little more likely for the suspect to find out they are on their way to arrest him. Jethro knows they have enough evidence to hold them for a while at least, but he really wants a full confession. That would make going after the man that had hired them easier.

They came to apartment 304 quickly. Jethro remembers the Legal Departments warnings about announcing themselves first. This has always made him nervous because it gave the suspects time to grab a gun or a knife or just prepare for a fight.

"You ready, Tim?" Jethro whispers to the younger man.

Tim nods his head. He is trying to psych himself up. He always needs a few moments before raids like this to ready himself.

Jethro knocks on the door and announces,"Mr. Martinez, NCIS. We want to talk to you." Then he gives Alec all of twenty seconds to open the door, but he doesn't. Jethro hates this. He knows that things are more likely to go wrong if a suspect refuses to come to the door. At least, they have a search warrant. It makes it much easier to kick open a door when that's the case.

Jethro gather his strength and kicks the door open.


	9. Chapter 9

Alec Martinez is sitting in his living room when the front door comes bursting in. He hadn't wanted to answer the door, but he hadn't really realized that they would kick the door in like that if he didn't He had thought that they would go away and try again later.

"NCIS, hands in the air!" Jethro, Tim and Ziva shout pretty much simultaneously with their guns drawn.

Alec immediately does as he's told. He's not stupid enough to try anything. His brother had been killed by cops four years ago during a robbery.

Jethro comes up to him and and handcuffs him. "You're under arrest for the assault of Anthony DiNozzo, a Federal Agent," he says as he reads him his Miranda rights. He's doing his best not to hit the man himself. After all, he could claim police brutality if that was the case. Jethro doesn't want to give him a way out.

They led Alec out to the car. Jethro is pleased that they were able to get him without any unnecessary problems. He'd wanted this to go as smoothly as possible.

Alec is put into interrogation immediately following their arrival at NCIS. Jethro and the others head out to get David Luis. Alec could stew for a while in Jethro's opinion. He knows that it might soften him up a bit.

"I hope we can catch this dirt bag at his apartment," Ziva says. She's been itching to do something to one of these suspects, but she knows she can't.

Jethro nods his head at this. Being one man down is difficult enough without that man being hurt being the cause. Especially since he had been injured by the man they were seeking.

"It would make things easier if we didn't have to track him down elsewhere," Tim stated. He is always a little nervous before these raids, but has performed admirably during them since he was a wee probie. Only once has he given Jethro pause and that was after he had been accused of manslaughter of a cop. That had been his first kill. It turned out not to be his fault thank goodness. The hesitation he'd had when they had gone to arrest Archer hadn't lasted long after the incident thankfully.

They arrive at the apartment building where David Luis is living. It is only slightly nicer than that of Alec Martinez. He lives in a second floor walk up. Jethro is looking forward to interrogating these two. It should be interesting, but they have to get David first. Knowing that the other one is sitting in their interrogation room stewing helps to galvanize them for this.

Once again, Jethro prepares to announce their presence before kicking in the door, since he's fairly certain that Mr. Luis won't be answering the door even if he's there. His partner certainly didn't do things the easy way, so it wouldn't surprise him the one went the same way.

David Luis had just come out of his bedroom after having taken a shower when the sounds of "NCIS, Mr. Luis. Open up" accompanied by a knock on the door came into the apartment. He isn't completely surprised that there are cops at his door after what he and Alec had done to that young man. What surprised him is the fact that it's Navy cops. He and Alec hadn't known the guy's background when they took the job. They had been hired to beat the guy up severely. Alec had told him that they had been instructed not to kill him, but David had been uncomfortable with the level of violence that had been used against him.

David went to open the door. He knows that no matter what, making the cops break down you door is never a good thing. He's not dumb enough to pull a weapon. That would only get him killed. He had been in prison once and is not looking forward to going back. He had spent two years for third degree assault several years ago.

Jethro is pleasantly surprised when the door opens just as he is preparing to kick it in. As long as there is no weapon and the suspect didn't resist, this should be pretty easy.

"Mr. Luis, I am Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs of NCIS. This is Special Agent McGee and Special Agent David. We are here to arrest you for the attempted murder of one Anthony DiNozzo," he states as calmly as he possibly can in spite of the anger he's feeling. Ziva cuffs the man's hands behind his back and begins reading him his Miranda rights.

David took everything quietly even when Ziva put the cuffs on just a little too tightly. Handcuffs were never comfortable, but now they downright hurt. He knew that sometimes police use this tactic when they are particularly upset about a crime. This makes him wonder if the person who they had attacked might have been one of these feds

They took him back to NCIS and put him in a separate interrogation room from his apparent partner in crime. Gibbs Rule number one specifically states "Never Let Suspects Stay Together." It was a very rare occurrence that that particular rule is broken.

Alec, who had been sitting in the interrogation room for over an hour is getting rather impatient. He knows that he's screwed since the person he and David hurt was a federal agent. It would only be worse if they had killed him.

Jethro enters the room two hours after they had initially put him in there. It hadn't taken them long to get David Luis, so they had been back at headquarters sooner than expected. He was ready to get on this though. He wanted to know who hired these guys so they could get him or her as well. He could think of no reason that anyone should have done such a thing, but who knows what goes through people's minds when they come up with such things.

Alec tenses up as soon as Jethro enters the interrogation room. He knows that he's screwed any way you look at it. He knows that talking would almost guarantee a lighter sentence for him, but it could also get him killed by the person who had hired them.

"You seriously injured and almost killed a federal agent. You're quite frankly lucky not to be lying on one of the tables down in autopsy right now. You are looking at a long prison sentence here. I know you were hired by someone. I want that information," Jethro says practically barking it at him. He knows that there is a decent chance that either of these two men might give up the information when facing serious jail time like this. It amazed him how often people would give up even loved ones when they feel they could make a deal. "If you don't give him or her up, your partner probably will and might even get a deal."

Alec considers Jethro's words carefully. He knows this could very well be true. They had both met with the man who had hired them. He had been very specific about what he wanted to happen. Alec had suspected that there was a lot more behind this than had been told to him.

"Agent Gibbs, I am worried about what will happen if we do talk. The man who had the kind of money needed to put a hit on us if we talked," Alec informed the agent.

"We can offer you protection, even in prison. When your sentence is up, we could possibly get you into Witness Protection. A lot would depend on what information you were able to give us," Jethro tells him.

"I didn't know the name of the target. The man gave us an address and said to watch for a night when he was alone and then attack. I didn't make the connection between the two until you told me his name," Alec told him.

"I need his name!" Jethro said louder than his normal tone. He is starting to get an extremely bad feeling about this.

"Anthony DiNozzo, Sr," Alec said finally.

.


	10. Chapter 10

Ch. 10

Disclaimer: I don't own NCIS.

Author's Note: Thanks everyone for the reviews. Merry Christmas. It may be next week before I update again. I am going to be busy the rest of the week.

Anthony DiNozzo Sr. sits in interrogation at NCIS like there's nothing going on. He has already lawyered up, so they are just waiting for Joshua Tolliver Attorney-at-Law to make his appearance. Jethro is disappointed that they were unable to get any information at of him before he called for a lawyer.

Jethro is seething in observation. He hadn't wanted it to go this way, but he had known that it was a distinct possibility. Senior is definitely the cowardly type. He wouldn't want to face the infamous Leroy Jethro Gibbs without legal counsel or he would probably spill his guts.

Tony is still in the hospital. The doctors are keeping him for another three days. Then he'll be off of work for another week after that and on desk duty for two or three weeks thereafter. He will probably be pretty whiny about it and hate every moment, but it's better this way. Following doctors orders are definitely the best way to handle things in this situation.

Jethro decides that it would be a good idea to inform Tony's father exactly the kind of damage that his men had caused. Even though Senior wouldn't really care, he was a responsible for this as the attackers were.

Jethro enters the interrogation room with a determined look on his face. He knows that he can't ask him any questions until the lawyer gets here, but he can sure as hell do what he is about to. He doesn't want this bastard to get off on a technicality.

"Mr. DiNozzo, I have received word on the condition of your son. His lacerated spleen is healing nicely. He has two broken and two cracked ribs. He had a punctured lung that if he hadn't been treated when he had would have collapse and killed him in all likelihood. You are very fortunate that it didn't happen because instead of attempted murder charges you would be facing conspiracy to commit murder and believe me you wouldn't do well in prison," Jethro tells him. He knows that Senior would do everything possible to get out of this, but Jethro is determined to make it stick. This is why he is being extremely careful to do everything by the book.

Anthony says nothing in reaction to this. He knows that keeping his mouth shut could possibly be his only way out of it. He isn't dumb enough to admit anything. He isn't aware of the skills of Jethro's team to find connections. Tim is downstairs in the bullpen determined to find who paid Alec and David to beat Tony up so badly. That would certainly help solidify their case against him. A confession is always preferable, especially when it comes to this sort of case, but not necessarily deal breaking.

Jethro is frustrated with the smugness that Senior is showing. What he wouldn't give to be able to wipe the smile off of his face, but maybe if he's lucky, he'll get the satisfaction of seeing him thrown in prison for a very long time.

Ziva comes into the observation room five minutes later. She realizes immediately that Jethro is no longer in the room.

"Agent Gibbs, Mr. DiNozzo's lawyer is downstairs," she tells him through the intercom. He isn't really saying anything at this point, so technically it isn't interrupting him in interrogation. He hated when anyone did that.

Jethro nods his head and walks out of the room. Ziva is there to meet him. He isn't upset with her for that at all. He knows that it is important to get the lawyer quickly so they can continue with the interrogation even though nothing is likely to come out of it now.

Joshua Tolliver enters the interrogation room following Jethro. He's been wishing his firm hadn't taken Anthony DiNozzo Sr. as a client, but really has no choice but to represent him to the best of his ability. Otherwise, he could be disbarred or worse. Anyway, he is the one assigned to the case by one of his firms senior partners, Alexander Wallace. He is hoping to make full partner one day and this case is just one of the many steps he has to take in order to reach that goal. If he is successful in winning this case, it will look really good for him.

"Mr. DiNozzo, I am Joshua Tolliver. The partners at Wallace, Lynch, Forrest and Daniels (Matthew Lynch, Jason Forrest and Victor Daniels) assigned me to work you case as I am sure you were informed," Joshua says as he introduces himself. The liaison department had told him that they had contacted NCIS to inform them who would be arriving to counsel Mr. DiNozzo on this matter.

"I hope your good, Mr. Tolliver," Senior said gruffly. He couldn't believe that one of the partners themselves hadn't shown up. He paid good money to retain the firm and they sent one of their junior associates.

"Yes. I have won twelve of the fifteen criminal cases I've tried," Joshua says.

'A newbie, even worse,' Senior thought to himself. He knows this could be a lot better if he had proper representation, but for the moment, it's too late to do anything about it. He couldn't request another lawyer this soon. He would definitely have to later before trial. He couldn't risk his life on someone who is practically just out of law school, even if his record is pretty impressive.

Jethro smiles at this piece of news. Someone so new to this wouldn't know a whole lot and he might be able to get Senior to answer some of his questions instead of stonewalling him.

"Okay, now that we have your lawyer present, we can continue with this interview," Jethro states clearly. "I have already told you what we believed happened here. We have written confessions from the men you hired to beat your son up. You are lucky that Tony has survived the incident, because if not you would be charged with conspiracy to commit murder instead of attempted murder."

"Agent Gibbs, I must object You have no other proof besides the statements of those two hooligans to corraborate your story," Joshua says.

"You have to admit that's a good start though. My team and I will not stop until we find out for certain who did this to Tony," Jethro says with a smirk. He is determined to make this stick. Tim is working to find a way to trace the bank records, but whoever had hidden them, had done an excellent job of it.

Joshua just shakes his head. He can't imagine someone actually doing this, but as he actually looks at his client, he can see there's something that's not right about that man. He hates the fact that he has to represent people like this.

"I want to know why you did this Mr. DiNozzo. Tony is a man who you should be proud to call your son. He has saved many lives in his time as a homicide cop and a federal agent. He doesn't deserve to be treated like this by any one, let alone his own father," Jethro barks at him again. In the six months since Tony had revealed his past, Jethro has wanted to slug his father in the nose. He knows that he can't, especially now that his lawyer has arrived.

Senior is determined to keep his mouth shut. He knows that if they discover where that money comes from, he's totally screwed.


	11. Chapter 11

Ch. 11

Disclaimer: I don't own NCIS.

Author's Note: Merry Christmas. I am enjoying having a quiet evening at home. We had my grandparents at my house for dinner and they left a couple hours ago. Now I am in my room watching NCIS. I finally have all 7 seasons on dvd. I got the last two I didn't have for Christmas. My best present though was a 32 inch HD television.

Tim is sitting at his desk in the bullpen, working hard to trace the large deposit that had been placed in David Luis's account in payment for beating Tony up severely. The entire team were certain that it was Tony's father, but they had to be able to prove it in court, otherwise he would get off Scott free and that would be the worst thing that could happen. Abby has come upstairs and is seated at Tony's desk trying to help Tim, figuring in this case, two heads are better than one.

Jethro meanwhile is still trying to break Senior, but his lawyer is making that extremely difficult. Joshua knows what he's doing even if he's pretty new to this. He'd been a legal assistant for several years before he'd gotten his law degree, so he has more experience than most new lawyers do when they first start out.

Tim comes running to the observation room. He has found the evidence they need to connect the attackers to Tony's Father. He sees that Jethro is trying his absolute hardest to break the older DiNozzo, but with his lawyer present, it is extremely difficult.

"Agent Gibbs, could I see you for a moment?" Tim says timidly knowing how much his boss hates being interrupted in interrogation. This time, it will be worth the possibility of facing Jethro's anger for a moment.

Jethro leaves the interrogation room figuring that Tim wants him because he has found the link. He wouldn't dare interrupt otherwise as many times as he's gotten mad at him for doing exactly that. Tim has learned that lesson well over the years.

Tim meets him outside the interrogation room. "Boss, it took a lot of doing, but I got it. The seventy-five thousand dollars came from a personal account of one Anthony Dominic DiNozzo Sr. He must have had someone with excellent computer skills to hide his trail, but while it was difficult to find, I did manage it with a little help from Abby. I think I owe her a Caff Pow," Tim said.

Jethro smiles at the Caff Pow comment. He knows his forensic scientist's addiction to the drink and he nods his head agreeing with Tim that he should get one for her.  
"Good work,Tim," Jethro tells the younger man. The rare praise is well deserved at this point. He could nail DiNozzo Sr. now. There is not getting out of it now. Jethro is glad. He hates it when one of his agents is hurt and this man was the cause of those problem.

Tim heads to observation planning to get the Caff Pow later. He wants to see the end of the interrogation. It should be interesting. Jethro can be pretty persistent, especially when he has enough evidence to go to trial and most likely get a conviction. He wants a confession whenever possible, especially in this situation. He knows that every little bit helps.

Jethro walks in determined. He has the upper hand at long last. He's been waiting for the information. He has the paperwork about the bank account that Tim had given him in his hands. That way he has proof about what they no and Josh won't think they're lying to get a confession.

"Mr. DiNozzo, we found a link between you and David Luis. We found seventy-five thousand dollars that was transferred from one of your bank accounts to the of one David Luis. My agents are working on your phone records," Jethro tells him. He is certainly glad that he managed to get a confession out of both David Luis and Alec Martinez. Jethro had suspected Senior, but until they had something to go on, they didn't have enough probable cause to go through his records.

At this, Senior realizes he's screwed. He had made a mistake not to pay these guy in cash. If he had, they wouldn't have been able to prove he had paid them off.

Joshua could see the look on his client's face and could see that in all likelihood he's guilty. He hates when there's a situation like this when he has to represent someone who has done something so horrible and yet he has to do it. His bosses had ordered him to take care of him.

"Agent Gibbs, could I speak with my client alone for a moment?" he says politely not wanting to antagonizing him.

Jethro leaves the room after having nodded to the equipment technicians in the observation room while Ziva also leaves. The techs shut it down and quickly leave the room. Jethro stands outside the interrogation room waiting to be told to come back in.

Ten minutes later, Joshua tells Jethro they're ready for him again.

"Special Agent Gibbs, I have barely had any contact with Junior in many years. He and I have never really gotten along. The last time I saw him is an obvious example of it. I do admit that I may have tried to hit him the last time," Senior tells him.

Jethro is surprised that he has said this much, especially on record. He hasn't known for long about how he treated Tony growing up, but he practically hates him. No one has a right to treat their child the way Senior has treated Tony.

"Mr. DiNozz, I know you have done this. You could make things a lot easier on all of us and just admit it," Jethro barks at him.

Joshua watches Jethro in awe. He had told his client not to say anything else, but he certainly won't blame him if he does. This agent Gibbs is scary.

"Alright, I did it. Is that what you wanted to hear. Junior disrespected me and deserved everything he got. Your Agent McGee is lucky I didn't do the same thing to him. He stopped me'" Senior says.

Jethro stands him up immediately and then reads him his rights again. It can't hurt.


	12. Chapter 12

Ch. 12

Disclaimer: I don't own NCIS

Author's Note: Thanks to everyone who has reviewed. I appreciate the comments. I hope you've all had a Merry Christmas. I did.

Anthony DiNozzo Sr. sits in a holding cell at NCIS headquarters scarcely believing that Jethro had actually managed to get him to confess. 'That is on slick bastard,' he thought to himself. He had heard things from his brother Mike before he died. Jethro had a reputation of being a very thorough investigator as well as a self proclaimed bastard.

Tony wakes up in the hospital that day. He's been sleeping a lot since his injury, but that's to be expected under the circumstances. He knows wonders how the investigation is going. None of his other team members have been by today, so he figures that something big must be going on. He knows they'll come and update him as soon as they can.

Dr. Brad Pitt comes into Tony's hospital room to see his favorite patient. In his opinion, Tony is in the hospital far too often, even for a federal agent. He seems far too accident prone for his own good. It doesn't help that his lungs were so badly scarred from the plague. Tony's fortunate to still be in field work.

"Morning, Tony. How are you feeling?" Brad asks the young man.

"Feeling much better, Doc. The chest tube sure helped," Tony tells him.

"How's the incision pain?" Brad asks knowing Tony hates to take painkillers due to the fact that he has a rather goofy reaction to them. He had noticed it on several previous occasions. It could be rather difficult not to laugh when it happens though.

"I'm a bit sore, but I don't think that I need any more pain meds," Tony says. He'd had Tylenol with a little codeine in it and that had helped significantly without the funny side effects he usually had with the stronger stuff. He'd learned what he could handle easily over the years.

"I'm glad your pain is manageable. I know you don't like strong painkillers because of your reaction to them," Brad says as he listens to Tony's lungs. They sound clear and his breathing is pretty normal considering he had a punctured lung just over twenty-four hours ago. Brad is careful not to put too much pressure on Tony's injured ribs. He doesn't want to injure Tony's ribs further. It could injure Tony's lungs further and they definitely didn't want that.

After Brad left, Tim and Jethro come in to visit twenty minutes later. DiNozzo had nodded off again. Jethro and Tim head down to the cafeteria to grab a sandwich and a cup of coffee. By the time they come back upstairs fifteen minutes later, Tony is awake again and happy to see them. He can tell by the looks on their faces that something has happened, but not necessarily bad.

"We found out who hired David Luis and Alec Martinez. You're not going to like it," Jethro tells him knowing that this is going to be difficult for him to find out, but Tony deserves to know the truth as far as it is possible.

"Let me guess. It was my Dad," Tony said having suspected it the entire time, knowing the way his father had treated him in the past.

"Yeah. We got a full confession out of him. He also admitted to considering to order an attack on McGee after he stopped your father from hitting you when he came to see you here. That one shocked me a little. I didn't think that your father would go that far until he actually said it," Jethro tells his senior field agent.

Tony is surprised at this as well. His father has changed in the last several years for the worst unfortunately. At least, it didn't happen thank goodness. He would have felt terrible had Tim been hurt because of him.

"Tim, I'm sorry that he even considered doing such a thing. I may tease and torment you a lot, but I would never wish real harm on you, especially because of something you did to protect me," Tony says sincerely.

"I appreciate that Tony. You have nothing to apologize for though. Your father is the one who did this, not you," Tim says trying to keep Tony from getting overly agitated. It wouldn't be good for his weakened state.

"I just feel bad about it Tim. I am relieved that he didn't do it, but just the thought that he considered it disturbs me," Tony says.

Tim nods understanding why he's having problems. He wouldn't want anyone else hurt because of him either. He thinks about what Jethro had said after the incident.

_"I'm proud of you for the way you stood up for Tony back there. He hasn't had many people do that for him and I am sure he appreciates that," Jethro said._

They had talked after Tony had gone home the day after the incident in the bullpen. Tony had apologized for putting him in that situation, especially since Tim hadn't known what was going on with him at the time.

Abby is thinking about what Tony had discussed with her after his therapist had told him that he should get things out in the open with those he's closest with. At first, she'd been a bit mad at him for not telling her sooner about his past, but she had quickly forgiven him. She knows that it can be difficult to confide in people about certain things. She still had her own secrets that no one at NCIS knows.

Abby feels badly for Tony. She fully intends to visit him when she get off work. She is glad he's okay, but she's having trouble with the fact that his father would do such a thing to him. She knows that the team had found evidence and gotten confessions from the suspects, so she knows it's true. She just can't imagine a father doing that to his child.


	13. Chapter 13

Abby arrives at Bethesda Naval Hospital to pay a visit to Tony. She's glad that he is going to be all right, but it has been hard for her. She's had to wait to visit due to the fact that she needs to work on the evidence from Tony's case first. It is understandable under the circumstances. Abby just hopes that Tony is thinking that way. She would hate to think that he would think she didn't care what happened to him.

Abby enters his hospital room. Tony is wide awake.

"Tony, I'm glad you're doing so well," Abby says happily when she sees him.

"Yeah, so am I," Tony says. "It's been rather rough. I still can hardly believe that my father did this to me. He's done some pretty harsh things in the past, but nothing like this. He's never broken any bones or anything. Then to find out that he even considered hurting Tim, it's almost too much to even think about."

Abby had heard about the threat to Tim. She had been livid with Senior, but not Tony of course. It isn't his fault. None of this is. Senior is the bastard, not Tony.  
"Tony, you're lucky to still be here from what I understand. Bossman told me that you could have died if he hadn't gotten to your house when he did," Abby tells him. "I am glad that Gibbs heeded his gut that night.

"You have no idea how much I agree with you on that point, Abby. I was unconscious before they left. I wouldn't have been able to call for help on my own. I guess I owe Gibbs my life," Tony tells her. He has been thinking about this stuff a lot since he had woken up after the attack.

"I just got a call from Sister Rosita. She says all of the nuns are praying for you and so is Father Thomas (the priest who is the pastor of the parish the convent is in)," Abby tells him. She had informed them as soon as she could after she had heard about Tony's injuries. She'd wanted those prayers.

"Be sure to tell them thank you for me Abby. I really appreciate it," Tony tells his friend. He knew that Abby would talk to the nuns and ask them to pray for him. That's just her style.

"I will. Don't worry, Tony," Abby tells him.

"Gibbs told me about what they had discovered. It isn't right that he even considered hurting Tim. I may tease him at times, but I would never want anything to happen to him," Tony states once again. He is still feeling a bit guilty about this. The relationship between Tim and Tony is more like a sibling bond in most people's opinion. Lately. Tony hasn't felt much like calling Tim Probie or any McNicknames. He hasn't been able to handle this situation like he normally would if someone else had done this, because no matter what, it was his father who had hired someone to hurt him even if nearly killing him had been unintentional. Tony would have to live with that fact for the rest of his life. It wasn't right.

Abby could see the troubled look on Tony's face knowing he's having a hard time. The best thing she can do for him now is to be there for him. She reaches over and taking into consideration his injuries, gives him a gentle hug instead of her usually bone crushing ones. "It's going to be all right. Tim's fine. No one hurt him and no one is going to either," she told him.

"I hope so. I wouldn't put it past my father to try to get even with me from inside prison. He is just crafty enough to do it," Tony says.

"Tim and the rest of us will just have to be vigilant. We know that. Right now, until he's transferred over to civilian authorities, there shouldn't be any problems," Abby says. She can understand why Tony is concerned, but she is determined to set his mind at ease if at all possible.

Tony nods his head in understanding. "I agree with you there Abbs. I'm just worried about when he goes to civilian custody. They aren't as secure as our security. Hopefully, he'll be carefully monitored when he has visitors then."

Fifteen minutes later, Jethro comes to see Tony. Abby is sitting next to the bed watching Tony sleep. He had fallen asleep about five minutes before. Jethro knows that when healing from injuries likes this, sleep is the best thing for him. Hopefully, he won't have nightmares.

"Hey Abbs," Jethro says quietly as he enters the room. He doesn't want to wake Tony.

_Hello, _Abby signs to him.

Twenty minutes later, Tony wakes up to see his boss and Abby sitting by his bedside. He is surprised to see them both. He would have expected Abby to have left by now. She usually has a pretty busy schedule.

"How ya feeling, Tony? Jethro asks him as he does every time he sees him since he's been hospitalized. It had been extremely difficult for all of the team, but especially for Jethro to see Tony laid up like this.

"A bit sore, but otherwise fine. The pain medicine helps with my breathing a bit. It no longer hurts to do so," Tony says.

Jethro nods. He knows that Tony is telling the truth. Dr. Pitt had stressed the importance of telling the truth about his pain after the plague when he's in this sort of situation and Tony has been fairly good about doing so.


	14. Chapter 14

Anthony DiNozzo Sr. is sitting in a jail cell at Metro Headquarters. He is furious at the situation he currently finds himself in. He'd made a huge mistake when he hired Martinez and Luis. They had ratted him out instead of keeping their collective mouth shut. Now that he thought about it, it doesn't surprise him one bit. They weren't well known criminals or anything like that. Senior is determined to get his revenge on Tony and his teammate, Tim for everything they had done to him. Through some of his own shady connections, he makes the appropriate arrangements.

Meanwhile, Tony is in his hospital room getting ready to go home. He is getting ready to leave the hospital. Tony is being discharged this morning after eight days in the hospital and is glad for it. Of course, he will be staying with Jethro for a week or two while he continues to recover, but the doctors said he would have to stay in the hospital if he didn't have someone to stay with for a while,. Jethro had immediately volunteered his own home for that purpose. Jethro, who hasn't taken much leave in the last few years, is taking some time off to take care of him. Tony feels bad about it, but he knows that protesting will just lead to him getting head slapped.

Jethro arrives to see Tony fully dressed and ready to go. He smirks to himself. It doesn't surprise him at all that Tony is waiting for him to get there. Tony hates hospitals and is usually always trying to sign himself out AMA, but he knew this time that Jethro wouldn't stand for it. He'd been too badly injured to go anywhere.

"Hey,Boss. I'm ready to go," Tony says as Jethro enters his hospital room. He's anxious to leave and it is very much apparent by the look on his face.

Jethro smirks at the enthusiasm on his young Senior Field Agent's face. He had just spoken to one of the nurses and Brad will be here momentarily to give him a brief physical to double check before releasing him. It's Standard Operating Procedure in these circumstances.

"He's good to go Agent Gibbs," Brad says after about ten minutes. He'd been thorough to make sure that Tony's lungs were doing all right since he'd been through so much already regarding them. His history of the plague hadn't helped matters in regards to the injury had suffered. Fortunately, there are no long term ill effects from the punctured lung. Tony knows he's lucky to have come out of this without any further respiratory problems.

Jethro watches the proceedings in comfortable silence. He knows that Brad is probably the best pulmonologist in the area and is grateful for his care of Tony. The young doctor had been very caring in the past several years when Tony's had problems, making sure that more damage wouldn't be done to Tony's already heavily scarred lungs. Tony is lucky this time. His lungs had been on the verge of collapsing when they had gotten the chest tube in.

"Alright, Tony. You're good to go. Remember that I want you to take it easy for the next week or so. Dr. Mallard will tell you when it is safe for you to go on desk duty as well as back in the field. I have already informed him that you will need to take at least a week off," Brad reminded him.

Tony nods his head in understanding. He is well aware of the restrictions placed on him for the next week or so. As much as he hates being cooped up in a house, at least, he'll have company until he goes back to work.

"Don't worry Doc. I am taking the next week off. I already cleared it with the director. Tony will have someone to look out for him during that time," Jethro reassures Brad. He knows that Tony might very well try to do too much too soon and that's one of the reasons Tony is staying with him for a bit. Jethro wants to make sure Tony recovers without any setbacks . Tony hates being cooped up and he won't enjoy having to stay home one bit. Plus Jethro does care about Tony's health.

One of the nurse's Amanda Simpson arrives soon with a wheelchair. Tony may not be happy about having to leave in one, but it's hospital policy. He knows better than to protest. It will just earn him a head slap from Jethro and right now he's not in the mood to deal with that. This whole experience has got him down a bit, but he's glad to be leaving the hospital at last. He's relieved to know that his father is sitting in a jail cell and not out on the loose free to hurt others.

Tony and Jethro head out to his Charger. Jethro went to take the wheelchair back inside after getting him settled in the car. He is back quickly. The car ride to his house is pretty quiet. He had gone to Tony's house to get some clothes and other necessities for the next week. He knows that he can always go back if need be, but wanted to be prepared.

Tony settles into the guest room. He had stayed here many times over the years, when he had been sick or injured. He enjoyed it most of the time, even though he sometimes had difficulty with it when Jethro would let him do something. He heads downstairs to the family room and practically flops on the couch, tired from the flurry of activity that he'd had that morning.

Jethro surreptitiously watches him as he comes downstairs. He'd known that Tony would quickly wear himself out today. He just doesn't have his usual amount of energy. Jethro knows that it will take time for Tony to feel a hundred percent and that he's lucky that it's possible. He could have had long lasting reprecussions from this if his lungs had collapsed or if his spleen had ruptured.

Tony is asleep withing minutes. He needs as much rest as he can get right now. Jethro knows this and is determined to make sure he gets it.

An hour and a half later, Tony awakes to the smell of spaghetti cooking on the stove and garlic bread in the oven. He heads into the kitchen to find Jethro standing at the stove stirring a pot of noodles. "Smells good, Boss," he says as he enters the room.

"Thanks, DiNozzo," Jethro says with a smirk as the younger man takes a seat at the kitchen table. Tony knows better than to offer to help. It would be at least a couple of days before he is allowed to do that. He knows this from past experience.

"How was your nap?" Jethro asks.

"Good. I really needed it," Tony tells him. He feels quite a bit less tired than he had before his nap. He knows that Jethro will make him rest for the afternoon, but he probably won't sleep the entire time. Jethro had finally bought a decent entertainment system to keep in his family room, so Tony won't be bored out of his mind. Tony had been relieved when he'd done that. Jethro had grabbed a bunch of his dvds with plans to rent some if Tony needs him too. He also got cable. He didn't watch it very much, but Tony gets hurt more than anyone would prefer and it's easier to keep him occupied.

Jethro is glad that he had managed to get a nap in. He won't force him to nap anymore for the moment, but Tony does need to rest. He will probably spend most of the afternoon on the couch.

Jethro dishes up the food. Tony digs in immediately. His appetite has returned today. He'd hated the hospital food like most people do. Jethro is happy to see him enjoying a meal. He hadn't ate very well while in the hospital. Tony is just glad to have some real food.

Tony puts The Patriot in Jethro's dvd player. He lays down on the couch and gets settled in to watch the movie. Jethro heads down to the basement to work on his boat after telling Tony what he was doing.

An hour into the movie, Tony falls asleep.


	15. Chapter 15

Ch. 15

Disclaimer: I don't own NCIS

Author's Note: This one has taken a while. Sorry for the delay. Please Read and Review. I also have another story up. Please read and review that. Thanks for all the reviews. I may not respond to them all but I do appreciate them. They are very helpful.

Tim drives to work early one morning. He's running right on time thankfully. With the mood Jethro has been in the last couple of days since returning from leave, he doesn't want to get on his bad side first thing in the morning. He knows he gets very irritated in regards to punctuality, especially when there are other things going on.

A dark blue Ford pickup truck came barreling out of nowhere towards Tim's car. It crashes into the passenger side. Tim is bashed around as the car goes spinning out of control. By the time the car comes to a complete stop, he is unconscious.

Jethro walks into the squad room. Ziva is already at her desk, but he can see that Tim is not. This concerns him greatly, as Tim is usually on time if not early. "Ziva, have you seen or heard from McGee?" he asks her.

"No, Gibbs, but he's not late yet," Ziva tells her boss. He has about five minutes before that becomes the case. She's not worried yet. Even though it's rare for Tim to be late, it does happen on occasion.

Jethro just shakes his head knowing the Ziva is right. He's overcautious about such things right now because of what happened to Tony. He doesn't like not knowing why his team members are running behind under ordinary circumstances, but with Tony being hurt so recently, it makes it all the more difficult.

Twenty minutes later, Tim still hasn't arrived. Jethro is starting to get concerned. Tim is really good about calling in when he's running late. It seems really odd to him that he hasn't. He looks over at Ziva and can see the concern on her face as well.

Jethro picks up his cell phone and just as he prepares to dial Tim's phone, his desk phone rings. "Yeah, Gibbs," he answers.

"Agent Gibbs, this is Ronald Davidson. I am a police officer with Metro PD. I am at the scene of a car accident and I have a man with the ID and badge of an NCIS Agent. I was directed to you when I identified him as Timothy McGee and called your dispatch," Ronald tells him hating to have to do this over the phone, but he can't get away from the scene right now.

"How is he doing?" Jethro asks immediately, not worried about the scene at the moment. He just wants to know about Tim.

"He's in serious but stable condition a the moment sir. The paramedics are getting ready to take him to Bethesda," Ronald tells him.

Jethro isn't happy about what's happened to Tim, but is glad that he isn't dead. He doesn't know what's happened but he knows that he needs to find out. First, he'll get Balboa's team on the scent to help and then he'll get over to the hospital. Tim would need his support. He hung up the phone after telling Ronald he would get a team down there as soon as possible.

Twenty minutes later, Jethro and Ziva are on their way to Tony's apartment to pick him up. He is ready for them when they arrive. His gut is churning with the feeling that this could have something to do with his father, even though he is not quite sure how at the moment. It certainly wouldn't surprise him if that ended up being the case. After everything that Senior has said to him, Tony wouldn't put anything past the man.

Tim is awake as the ambulance arrives at Bethesda Naval Hospital. His entire body hurts, but he knows that there is nothing they can do about it until they see if he has any serious head injuries. He has seen Tony injured enough on the job to know that. He's grateful that the ambulance had gotten to him as fast as it did. He knows that his right arm is broken and he has three cracked ribs and a probable concussion. They don't think he has any internal injuries, but they'll know for sure soon. Tim hopes he won't have to have any surgery. He also knows he'll be on desk duty until his arm heals once he's allowed ot go back to work. He does better with that sort of thing than the rest of his team does though as a computer geek. He'll still be able to contribute quite a bit even at his desk, so he's not really worried about that.

Jethro and the rest of the team comes in a few minutes after Tim's arrival. He is anxious to find out his condition. He had been relieved to find out that Tim was stable at least. The car had been totaled, but Tim has good insurance, so that wouldn't put any undue stress on him.

"Agent Gibbs, why am I not surprised to see you here," Dr. Melinda Ryan said as she saw the team enter the E.R. She had been expecting them, having recognized Tim immediately. This team seemed to have a lot of injuries, work related or not. She knew that Team Gibbs wouldn't be too far behind the young man.

"I came to see my agent, Dr. Ryan. I was informed that he's been in a car accident and I don't have any ot the details yet, other than that he was alive and stable at the time of the phone call," Jethro tells her.

"I already have Agent McGee's permission to fill you in when you got here. They are taking him up for x-rays and such to determine if he has internal bleeding, which they don't think he does and whether or not his arm needs surgery or just a cast. It was broken in the crash. He appears to have a moderate concussion and three cracked ribs, but there shouldn't be any serious problems developing from those as long as he follows orders," Melinda tells him.

"He's better at following Dr.'s orders than the rest of his team. When can we see him?" Jethro asks her, knowing that it will probably be a while, but hopefully, barring him having to go into immediate surgery, they would be able to see him when the tests were done.

"As soon as we get him in his room after the test, unless they find internal bleeding. Then, they will have to take him into surgery quickly. If he needs surgery on his arm, they will probably do it this afternoon, so you should be able to spend a little time with him first even if that is the case," Dr. Ryan explained.


	16. Chapter 16

Ch. 16

Disclaimer: I don't own NCIS

Author's Note: Thanx to everyone who has reviewed this story. I appreciate the input.

Jethro, Tony and Ziva wait impatiently for the doctor to come in and tell them whether or not would be able to see Tim soon. It would depend on whether or not he needs surgery immediately.

Thirty minutes after their arrival, Dr. Ryan came into the waiting room where Jethro and his team were. She had seen the worried looks on their faces and had known she needed to get them the information as soon as possible.

Jethro looks up and sees her walking towards them. He can't tell by the look on her face about what is going on. "So what's the verdict, doctor?" he says.

"Agent McGee does not have any internal bleeding. His spleen is bruised but otherwise okay. His arm was also able to be set without having to do surgery to put in pins, so that's good. We want to keep him overnight at least to watch his concussion. He can go home sometime tomorrow if he has someone to stay with him or someone he can stay with. With a concussion, I find it's better for the patient to have someone to keep an eye on them for a couple of days. There shouldn't be any problems, but you can never tell," Dr. Ryan told him knowing that surely one of Tim's teammates would be willing.

"He can stay with me," Jethro said without any hesitation. He smirked to himself thinking that he had just gotten Tony out of his guest room and now Tim would be staying there. He would have done this for Tim even if Tony was still staying at the house. There is plenty of room.

"Agent McGee should take the rest of the week off work and when he does go back he'll need to be on desk duty until that cast comes off. He won't like it but it's a necessary restriction," Dr. Ryan says.

Tony winces at this. He knows how hard it is to be stuck behind a desk when the rest of your team is out in the field, but McGee would probably be able to handle it better than Tony does since he likes working with computers. It would be a little easier for him that way at least

Abby is running evidence analysis as usual. Something is up with the car. It actually appears to have sped up as it impacted Tim's Porsche instead of slowing down to at least lesson the force of the impact. It is highly unusual in car accidents to see something like that. This makes her very suspicious of the circumstances surrounding it, especially with Tony being attacked recently. She picks up her phone to call Jethro to let him know what is happening with the case.

Jethro, who has just gone down to the cafeteria to get a cup of coffee hears his phone ring. He isn't surprised to get a call from Abby even this soon. She'll be worried about Tim and wanting to check on him. "Yeah, Abbs," he said in his usual gruff manner.

"How's Timmy?" she asks first and foremost.

"He's fine. No internal bleeding or anything of that nature. He has a broken arm but shouldn't have any problems after it's healed. They didn't have to put pins in," he told her. "Do you have any information for me?"

Abby lets out a huge sigh of relief. They may no longer be dating, but she still cared for him. They were friends now and that would never change. She loved him like a friend now. He had always treated her well even directly after their breakup. She knows how lucky she is to have him.

"I have been analyzing the car that hit Tim and the photographs from the scene. What confuses me is that it appears that the car sped up right before it hit Tim instead of slowing down to avoid the crash. It's almost like it was a deliberate act," Abby told him knowing that this wasn't what Jethro wants to hear, that another of his agents has been attacked in the span of less than three weeks. She can barely believe it herself.

Jethro curses under his breath at this piece of information. He immediately get the feeling in his gut that Tony's father somehow found a way to get his revenge from behind bars. After everything that had happened, it wouldn't surprise him one little bit. Senior had proven that he though he was above the law already. Jethro is determined to nail that bastard to the wall, even if it turns out that he wasn't behind Tim's accident, but the possibility of him having hired people to hurt or in this case possibly kill his agents makes him want to nail him even more.

Tony is anxious to get back to work, especially after everything that's happened recently. Team Gibbs is now down two members instead of just one. Fortunately, Tony only has a few more days left before he is allowed to return to work. He has been restless during his recuperation, but now it has become even worse since Tim's "accident."

Ziva sits at her desk in the bullpen trying to pull up the bank records of Robert Tracy, the man who had hit Tim's car. They had reasonable suspicion that he may have done it deliberately and they want to see if it was a paid thing. Unfortunately, Robert is still unconscious, so they cannot interrogate him yet. She is hoping to get the chance to question him herself. She loves making bad guys squirm in fear. Being a former Mossad officer helped with that persona.

Meanwhile, Anthony DiNozzo Sr. saw that Tim McGee had survived the attack. He swore under his breath scarcely believing his luck. According to the news reports, Tim is doing well and would be released from the hospital soon.

Sr. cell mate, George Parker, being held for burglary, could sense the tension of the older man. He knew from one of the guards. Andrew Reynolds, that his cell mate was in for paying someone to beat up his son. Even though, the son was grown up, it didn't make what he did right by any stretch of the imagination. George had heard Sr. talking in his sleep about someone else, a Tim McGee. It had sounded like he was out to get him as well, even though nothing like that would likely hold up in court.


	17. Chapter 17

Ch. 17

Disclaimer: I don't own NCIS.

Author Note: Sorry it took a while to get this up, but I am having a lot of problems with writer's block.

Tim is sitting on the couch at Jethro's house contemplating the long several weeks he has ahead of him. He knows he's lucky not to have been injured more severely in the accident, but being off work and then on desk duty for such a long time is going to be hard on anyone. Jethro is being kind enough to let Tim stay at his house for a couple of days or so to recovy.

Jethro is in the kitchen cooking up an early lunch. He had noticed that Tim hadn't ate very much breakfast, but hopes that it is simply because of the unappetizing taste of hospital food and not because he isn't feeling well. Jethro doesn't want him to have to go back to the hospital. Jethro is making baked chicken and peas. He doesn't want to give him anything too heavy in case it is a stomach problem.

Tim falls asleep while waiting for lunch. He's has an exhaustive couple days and needs a good long rest. He knows that in order to heal, he needs sleep. Dr. Ryan had made that perfectly clear to him before he left the hospital. That is one of the reasons that he isn't going to be on desk duty until the beginning of next week. It gives him a chance to recuperate a bit before he goes back to work. He has to wait about six weeks before he can be on field duty again because of his arm, but that will be the only slightly lingering problem he will be faced with.

Jethro walks into his family room to get the younger man for lunch and sees that he is asleep. He decides to bring Tim's food to him before waking him up. He knows it'll be a better way of doing things.

Tim awakes to see his Boss standing over him with a plate of food. Jethro's plate is on the end table by his recliner. Tim sits up and takes the place from the older man. "Thanks, Boss," he says as he digs in with gusto. It is simple fare, but very good.

Jethro watches the younger man eating as he also eats. He can now see that it was indeed the hospital food that had made Tim reluctant to eat this morning and not his appetite. That's a relief in and of itself. It means that Tim is on the road to recovery.

It is a pretty quiet lunch. Tim feels bad about Jethro having to take another couple days off after he just got done taking care of Tony. At least, Vance seemed understanding about it. Tim didn't want the director mad at him.

Tim goes back to the couch almost immediately. He can't really help clean the kitchen with a broken wrist and Jethro understands that. Tim has a dishwasher at home, so he'll be fine taking care of himself when he goes back to his own place.

Jethro stands at the sink doing the dishes and thinks about the evidence that has been collected so far. It appears that the accident was actually an attempt on Tim's life, but they have been unable to talk to the driver of the truck as of yet. He's still unconscious. Hopefully, they will be able to talk to him soon. Meanwhile, Ziva is working to get his financial records to make sure there hasn't been some kind of payment made. Abby is working to get his phone records. The problem is getting search authorizations. They had been calling several judges all over D.C. Finally, Judge Isabella Matthews had agreed to allow them access since it did appear that the accident wasn't really an accident. It truly wouldn't surprise anyone if it was DiNozzo Sr. again. He had no problem hurting other people to get revenge when he feels wronged. After what had happened to Tony, Jethro wouldn't put anything past him. He had threatened Tim in the past.

The rest of the day is spent relaxing. Jethro is anxious about the case, but Ziva and Abby seem to have a pretty good handle on the situation. Agent Leo Martinez and his team, Agent Lindsey Patrick, Agent Martin Bernard and Agent Kathleen Mercer are helping them. Ducky is even working on a psychological profile, since he doesn't have a body to work on this time thankfully. They have been keeping him updated on a periodic basis.

Tim heads up to Jethro's guest bedroom at about 10 o'clock. He appreciates the way Jethro has been so accommodating, but feels as though he is intruding in his life.

Downstairs in the basement Jethro is working on yet another boat. It helps keep him calm when he is under a lot of stress like he has been lately. He knows how lucky his team has been with these attacks. They could have been even more seriously injured or killed. Both Tony and Tim had come out of it well. They were still healing, but it could be a lot worse. Hopefully, nothing further will happen.

Early the next morning, Jethro hears his cell phone ring. It's Ziva. He hopes she'll have news as to whether or not someone hired this guy to hurt Tim. It wouldn't surprise him one bit of course, but they would have to have proof for it to hold up in court.


	18. Chapter 18

After three days, Robert Tracy is finally awake. He has had a rough go of it after the accident but is fully aware if his situation. He knows that he's probably totally screwed after having attempted to kill a federal agent. If they had found the money in his bank account, they would know that he had been paid off in all likelihood. His only hope of getting out of prison relatively young would be to make a deal, but he isn't sure that's the best idea either. After what the man who had hired him had tried to do to a federal agent, it is obvious to him what he would to to a would be assassin who couldn't keep his mouth shut.

Jethro and Ziva head to the hospital. They had been informed that Robert Tracy is awake and able to receive visitors. Jethro is glad to be able to finally question this guy. They had found evidence that Anthony DiNozzo Sr. had paid him to hurt or worse kill Tim, but they need him to admit to what had happened or prosecution of Sr. might be difficult, at least in regards to Tim.

Robert notices the looks on his visitors face as they enter his room and he knows they have to be cops. He has been expecting them since he woke up about four hours before. He knows that the doctors would have informed whatever police station or federal agency is involved in investigating the accident.  
"Mr. Tracy, I am Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs NCIS and this is Special Agent Ziva David. We are investigating your car accident," Jethro says as he flashes his badge at him. Ziva does the same thing.

"Hello," Robert says nervously. He doesn't know whether he should just tell the truth or try to get away with a lie. He's scared not only of what these feds might do to someone who had hurt one of their own, but what his client might do.

"Mr. Tracy, can you tell me what happened in your own words?" Jethro asks. He knows that in all likelihood the man would try to lie to him at first, but it's a start.

"I was on my way to work at the factory, when I accidentally ran a stop sign. I wasn't paying attention to the road as well as I should have," Robert says. "Hitting the other car was an accident."  
Jethro is not at all surprised at Robert's answer but he is prepared with one of his own.

"Mr. Tracy, our forensic tech was able to determine that you had sped up right before hitting the other vehicle. That is indicative of the crash having been a deliberate action on your part rather than a normal accident," Jethro says trying to remain calm. It is a definite possibility that the man didn't know who he had hit let alone what he did for a living and for the moment Jethro wants to keep it that way if that's the case. He didn't want Robert panicking if he heard that his victim is a federal agent.

Robert doesn't really know what to say to that. He hadn't realized that they could determine that sort of thing. He is a line worker at a car factory not a genius. He knows very little about the science of forensics, just what he's seen on tv occasionally.

"We also have reason to believe that you were hired to hurt or worse kill one Timothy McGee. We have been through your phone records and also your bank records and there is a large deposit in the amount of one hundred thousand dollars placed in there recently. In addition, you have received two phone calls from the jail where one Anthony DiNozzo Sr. is being held waiting trial on hiring someone to beat up Timothy's coworker. Your bank records indicate that the deposit came from Mr. DiNozzo's account. It would go better for you if you talk now. I can speak to the prosecutor on your behalf. Mr. McGee was not seriously injured, so we are more concerned with the person who hired you than you personally," Jethro says taking an unusual tactic for him.

Robert seems surprised that they had already gotten his records. He thinks that maybe it would be better to turn on the person who hired him and then maybe seek protection, than to end up in prison for a long time because he refused to do so. He has two young daughters, Lindsey, age five and Rebecca, age 2. He had done this when approached by an associate of Mr. DiNozzo, Jeffrey Wilder, to help Lindsey, who had leukemia. The medical bills had been piling up. He was concerned that they would stop treatment soon if he didn't somehow get some money.

"You have to understand, Agent Gibbs, I didn't do it for greed. I have a five year old daughter who is battling leukemia. I have been worried that the hospital would stop treatment because I couldn't pay the bills. I wouldn't have done it otherwise," Robert says.

"I get that, but it doesn't make what you did right. You're really lucky that Tim wasn't injured more seriously. His worst injury is a broken arm. Otherwise, I would definitely be charging you with attempted murder, but at the moment, if your willing to tell us for certain who hired you and testify against this person, we will probably be able to get the charges reduced," Jethro says. Ordinarily, he would hate making deals with someone who tried to kill one of his agents, but he knows that there are bigger fish to fry than this guy. He is just a pawn in a larger game. Jethro knows this and is willing to make the deal that will help put DiNozzo Sr. away for a very long time.

"I realize that now. I am relieved to hear that he wasn't killed or seriously injured. I didn't think about it before I did it, but I would hate to have his death on my conscience for the rest of my life," Robert says.

"Yes, it could be a whole lot worse for you. The man whose car you rammed into is a federal agent. If he had died, you'd be in a great deal more trouble than you are now," Ziva told him, speaking for the first time. She is angry, but she understands why the man felt he didn't have a choice. He was desperate to save the life of his daughter.

Jethro begins reading him his rights but knows that the DA might be willing to make a plea bargain with him. They hadn't actually been ready to arrest when they arrived. Until Robert had confessed, they couldn't be certain that it was an intentional act.

Robert knows that he'll be lucky to get away from this mess with an assault conviction. He also knows that his employer might come after him. He hopes not though.


	19. Chapter 19

Ch. 19

Disclaimer: I don't own NCIS.

Author's note: Sorry it took so long to update. My soon to be sister in law did find a dress. It is really pretty an very unique. It's hard to describe, but we are all happy. She's relieved to have found it.

Tony hates sitting home alone. He will be happy when his medical leave is over with at the end of the week. He hates not being apart of things, especially when his teammate is hurting. He hates not being able to contribute, but he knows that it's for the best that he isn't a part of this case, especially now that Tim has been hurt too. After all, technically, there's a conflict of interest because of his father, not that he has any desire to have a relationship with the man. Definitely not, after everything the man has done lately.

Even Tony is getting tired of watching movies. He'd watched a variety of movies including The Hunt for Red October, Repo Men, all of his James Bond movies, She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, Big Jake, and many more. He's also played video games and chatted with his frat brothers online. They only know he's injured, not the cause of said injuries. They hadn't know his secret back in college and he is not about to tell them now.

It had been a difficult adjustment coming back to his home after the attack. Tony had had nightmares once again. Sleep had been difficult the last several days unfortunately, but Tony knows he can't go running back to Jethro with this. He has Tim to worry about for the moment and Tony feels bad for having imposed upon him for as long as he had already. He would be seeing his therapist the next day, so that is almost certain to help.

Building the case against DiNozzo Sr. is coming along nicely. With the confession from Robert Tracy and all of the records they had, they should be able to get a conviction on this. Sr. should be going to prison for a long time. Hopefully, he would be a very old man by the time he got out if he ever did. If they managed to get this conviction, it is extremely unlikely that Sr. would ever hurt Tony at least personally again.

Jethro still can't believe everything that has happened in the last few weeks. With Tony and Tim both out of commission, Team Gibbs has been taken off active rotation. He and Ziva have been working on the case, but now that it's pretty much wrapped up, they will be working cold cases until Tony is cleared for field duty. They'd be allowed to do field work one man down though. Jethro isn't worried about their ability to do that. He and Tony had worked as a two man team for several months before Kate had joined their team and then it was nearly a year before they got Tim on their team officially.

Six months later,

Tony is sitting in the audience of the courtroom waiting for his father's sentencing. How the prosecutor had managed to get a conviction is beyond him, but he is glad the charges stuck. Jethro, Ziva and Tim are sitting beside him, hoping they throw the book at Sr.

An irate Anthony Dominic DiNozzo Sr. sits at the defendants table waiting for the judge. He knows he'll be going to prison for a long time. That had been made clear to him by his lawyer earlier that day. There really isn't much the lawyer could do to help him once the guilty verdict had been announced. There would be appeals of course, but the lawyer doubted it would happen.

The Honorable Natalie Thompson enters her courtroom to see the defendant looking quite angry. She had seen such things several times in her thirteen years on the bench. She's pretty much seen the gamut of emotions when it comes to this sort of thing.

Sr. is told to stand as he is sentenced and he reluctantly does so. He knows his life if pretty much over now..

"Mr. DINozzo, I have seen the evidence and heard from all of the witnesses. Not only did you hire men to injure your own son, who is also a federal law enforcement officer, but then you turn around and hire someone to kill another federal agent to seek revenge for perceived wrongs. Rarely, in all my thirteen years as a judge, have a seen a father commit such acts. I hereby sentence you to thirty five years in prison. I am also making the ruling that at least two thirds of that sentence must be served before parole is even considered," Natalie says as she bangs her gavel.

Tony looks extraordinarily relieved. He knows he won't have to worry about his dad for a really long time.

The end.


End file.
